The use of continuously fed form-feed material remains extensive. An example of a typical application of such material is depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,474, issued on Oct. 27, 1998, to Pitney Bowes. As described in the '474 patent, a continuous web of paper having a pair of perforated margin strips is provided. Each of the margin strips includes a plurality of linearly, uniformly spaced apertures which engage the pins of a pair of toothed timing belts or the like. The belts then feed the web past a pair of conventional, stationary, slitter knives and cooperating rollers. The slitter knives cause the margin strips to be severed from the web. The severed margin strips are commonly called "trim".
After being created, trim must be disposed of. While the '474 patent discloses a method of deflecting trim away from the area where it could create jam, the '474 patent does not disclose any method of actually disposing of the trim.
To date, the most widely used method of trim disposal uses a large trim removal device such as the one shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,232, issued Jun. 21, 1994, to Moore Business Forms. This device is not only costly from a purchasing price standpoint but also external to the device creating the trim, e.g., cutter. Accordingly, it consumes valuable resources and floor space that can be used for more productive purposes.
Similarly, Precision Cutters, Inc. (PCI) of Phillipsburg, N.J. (www.precisioncutters.com) makes and sells an external trim disposal system. Accordingly, it faces many of the same problems posed by the system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,232, to Moore Business Systems.
Despite the existence of prior art apparatuses, there is room for improvement within the art.